Internal-combustion engine.



s. LAKE. INTERNAL GOMBUSTION ENGINE.

APPLIOATION FILED DEO.8,1906. 970,063 Patented sept. 13f 1910.

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APPLICATION FILED DEG.8, 1906.

Patented Sept. 13, 1910.

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APPLICATION FILED DEO.8; 1906.

Patented sept. 13, 1910.

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Patented Sept. 13, 191() m M ginany1 w 6/ n 7 5 W I o L l 2 0f 2 2 2U vM 0 I 0 A. u )7A Il! |I|| ||..\|||||||Ix NIII Lf. l-. 1 9 i a M W Q 4 ay w v f l i 1| l. K NNE M l1 M 2 9 I 1U llrrll HI IH :IV i..l HHAMIEMWIII rf MJ 2 Mnl w w\\\ 4 .I t 2 H L I L f 3 2 8 6 Mr N// ATTRNEY l I f'UNITED sTATEs PATENT oriuon.

SIll/[ON LAKIEL, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT.

INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINE.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Sgpt, 13, 1g10 Applicationfiled December 8, 1906.

Serial No. 346,968.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it. known thatl I, SiiioN Lann, a citizen of the United States,residing aty Bridgeport, in the county of Fairfield and State oil'.

' Y height, such as in'marine vessels, automobiles, and thelike, whereina high lieat'is obtained by burning suitable fuel and' this heat reducedby adniixture with ,steam geneiiated iii-the apparatus; and to provide"for obtaining compression in alternate furnaces. l y' A mai'n object ofthis invention is to pro-v vide a construction wherein a very hightempei'atlire is obtained, so that'low grade fuel may be used and steamgenerated and admitted into the working end of the cyl-' indei' toreduce the temperature of the gases, which avoids iiijury to the valvesand cylindei', and at the same time provides a working fluid at' reducedtemperature and ot' higher pressure 'than has heretofore been obtained.n l These and other features gern'iane thereto constitute ltheinvention, as will now be described and then particularly pointed *outand claimed.

In the accompanying drawings 'illustrating the in\f'ention, in theseveral figures ot' which like parts are similarly designated, Fig. '2.is a side elevation. fFig. 3 is a vertical section, taken substantiallyin the plane ot line A li, Fig. 7. Fig. 4 is a verti fal section atrightI angles to Fig. l and taken substantially in the plane of line Cl), Fig. 'i'. Fig. 5 is a` top plan view. Fig. is a. horizontalcrosssection through the working cylinder and furnaces` the top ot thepiston being partly broken away. Fig. 7 is a horizontal section throughvthe con'ipression cylinder and piston, Fig. 8 isa vertical section on alargei' scale through the upper pai't of one ot the furnaces. Fig. 9 isa vertical section of portions of a modification and showing at rightand left, on a lai'ger scale, the val-ves inrit-he air-pipes. Fig. lO'isa vertical section, on a larger scale, showing details of the pumps.Fig. 1l is a longitudinal sectiofn of the puinp plunger and connections.The base l is of'suitable construction, and

adapted to the use and location of the engine, and it is preferablyprovided with` a eater-jacket 2 orotliei" medium for keeping itrelatively' cool so as not to interfere with proper lubrication of themoving parts. Thisbase, has erected in it the cylinders of vltwo oilpumps 3 and 4, and these cylinders Above the base is erected 'a housingll, y

secured to it in any suitable air-tight. man- 15. and an air-outletIpassage '1(3. Between the housing and base are the bearings '1T 'for themain crank-shaft 18. .ln the housing is a ledge 19 dipping inwardly andtoward the shaft bearings, and below' this ledge are. similar butshoi'ter ledges 2() and '21, leading to oil-holes 23, in the shaftbearings.

Mounted above and secured to thel housing is the engine cylinder Q-t,having two chambers of t'litt'ei'ent diameter, the larger chamber 25constituting an air-comprcssion cliambe' and the. snialler 20constituting the power-chanibcr or woi'king cylinder proper. 'lhecylinder Q-l is \\'aterjacketed or otherwise equipped with coolingagencies. The lower end of thc larger chamber opens into the housing andbase and` its upper end into .the working cylinder, and the top ot' thewerking-cylinder is closed by a head 2T, having an exhaust. valve 28mechanically operated, as hereinafter explained.

lithin the cylinder is the trunk-piston 2t) having an outer shell 3()and an inner shell 31 connected air-tight at top and bottoni. The pistonhas a compression head 32 to work inthe compression chamber and apowerhead 33 to work in the working chamber or cylinder. The inner shell may`be and is here shown as pyramidal to pro- 4vide for the oscillation ofthe connectingrod 34. This connecting-rod is hollow, that.,

is to say, it is provided with a long itiulinal This housing has anair-inlet' valve 439 of the 'main shaft 18.

lThe wrist-pin 38 is connected by elbow. pipe withthe' hollow plunger-41 ofthe bore 35 which `opens in thecross-heads 36 and 37, the formerengaging the hollow wrist-'pin 38 inthe upper end of the piston and thelatter engaging thelcrankwrist-pin oil-pump 3. Thisvplunger has in itsbottom a check-valve 42 and hence as the piston descends the plungergoes with it and forces va supply of oi-l through the' plunger and pipeto the interior `of the wrist-pin 38 .which overflows through oieninginto the cross-head 36 and lubricates it and the wrist-pin and then runsdown through the connecting-rod to the cross-head 37 and lubricates itandthe crank'wrist-pin. y The reciprocation of the piston alternatelycharges and discharges'the pump- 3. The pump 4 has a similar hollov7plunger with a check-valve therein, and its plunger is .connected with apipe 44 having' an elbow connection with the piston head 33, so as toAlubricate. it and the lower' piston head.-

As shown in Fig, 11, the plungcrs :are parts of or fixed to castings'45on the lowerl head of the piston, and the communicating pipes areattached to the same feature. The oil falling into the base is swept upby the' moving cross-head and thrown off onto the ledges 19, 20 and 21and utilized to lubricate the shaft bearings.

The cylinder has a passage 4G connected with the passage 16 in t-hehousing and ,opening int-o the interior of the cylinder, `said openingbeing controlled by an` auto- Other passages 48` matic check-valve 47.lead from the cylinder into the furnaces 4), of which there are two, asindicated in Figs. 5 and (3, and these passages are controlled by valves50 which are power-actuated. For instance,v the valves may be closed byair pressure taken from the compression chamber 25 through pipe 51 toact against the pisL t0n or diaphragm on the stem of the valve 50 tonormally close the said valve, while the opening nloveinentis effectedby the lever 53 or other valve-gear, one exam ple being hereinafterfully explained.

The furnaces are substantially alike and include a highly refractorylining 54, a firelu'e boiler 55, a fuel inlet 56,'a water-jacket 57which in addition 4supplies wat'er to the boiler 55, band a sparkingdevice .58. The

furnaces are supplied with outlet passages 59 opening into valvechambersl (3() in which are lvalves 61, opening int-o the working`cylinder, said valves being mechanically opened, as hereinafterdescriliel'l. As shouui in Fig. 8,`thcsc valves are each provided with apiston ot larger arca than the valve itself, and exposed on its uppersurface to atmospheric pressure. matically seated.V

The steam generated in -the boiler is col- 'l`he valve is aulo;-

ipe 'G3 with .the f composed of two partsfbetween whichis t formed anair-tight space. To preventthe 'expansion of air within this s aceV fromdoing injury to l the parts, reliet checlovalves G5 and 66 areprovidedlnthe bottom ofthe piston.'A Or in the case of an'engincoflarger size, 'as shown in Fig. 9,' there may-be used the air pipesG7''nd GS 'pass'ed through the housing-and up into the piston inanysuit-v able air-tight manneii-,and terminating in checlrvalves 69and' 70, each "of which-is lshown in detail at thesidesV (ifV said-Fig.i).

In either case, on' the down stroke Iof the pistony a quantity of air is1admitted intotlie i piston through the inlet check-valve and on thereverse stroke a-quantity of air is dis charged from the Vpiston'throughthe outlet check-valve; and in case lof the 'use of the pipes, Fig. 9,the relative quantities will be substantially equal to the displacementory said pipes.: Any other 1neans-.mayy be employed for controlling the4air within the piston.

Inasmuch as there Will be some accumula-4 tion of oil Within th'e'basethat islin condi' branch pipe 71, FigulO, may be connected to, saidbase and Ainlet oil pipe'to effect a circulation ofthe oil. The pipe 72,or other suitable means connecting the steam-chamber 62 andwater-jacket, may be' used fori caring for the water of condensation.Suita'bly .ar-

' ranged cams 73 on a cam-shaft 74 coperate with levers 53 to open theproper time. i

the air valves at 1, the camlshaft74 is" As shown 1n drlven by a shaft75 having gears7G,rat each y tion to be used over again repeatedly, aiend which are in mesh vwith gears 77 and 7S, l

carried by .the lmain and -cain-shatts, respectively. The shaft' 75 isalsoln'ovided with a suitable governor 79. '.lhe steam valve 60X has itsstem connected with alever 8O to which ...is also connected a rod 8l;

lthe lowerend of which is provided Witlii'a yoke 82 which carnes aroller that is engaged by a cam 8,3, niountedtupon' the camshaft 74. Theexhaust valve 28 is operated by a lever-84 and a connectingl rod 85,.the lowerfend of which 4is yprovided with a rev ciprocating yoke thatis engagedby a double cam 85 carried by cam-shaft74. Levers 86, 86, forpositively operating valves ('l are operated by connecting rods 87,`87., and. their reciprocating yokes, byoppositely arranged cams87" oncam-shaft 74. i

"88 designatesv fue] puinps to which are! connected pipes 89 whichextend to the fuel vers are connected vat their upper ends to .mayreceive a second.compression.

'thesteins of the valves 50 aiidhave their lower ends forked andprovided with antifriotion rollers, which are respectively engaged bythe 'oi'ipositely arranged cains 7?) carried by the cani-shaft 74.

9% designates la check-valve arranged in the pipe 63 extending froin thesteain doine 62 to the cylinder.

95 is any suitable tty-wheel.` y l Iny theioperation of the engine, airis first drawn into the base` on the up strokeof the piston, and on thedown stroke th'e a'ii' so drawn in forced through the passages lt') and46 into the aiicoinpressiiig chan'iber,

and on the first stroke a very considerable. "quantity of air is forcedin and this is an advantage, because at the next up stroke for effectinga compression of the air, that portion of the air that is forced intothe furnaceI Fuel is admitted into the furnace, at any tiine froin vthecommencement of the down stroke until the top of thenext up stroke isreached, and ignited, sonie of the products of con'ibust'ioii passing upthrough the boiler and into the passage 59 and to the valve (il.Meanwhile, steani is being generated in the boiler` the products ofcombustion, however, remaining at a proper working temperature whileconfined Within the furnace. 'hcn the val-ve 61 is opened (on the powerstroke) the highly heated products of coiiilnistion contained within thefurnace pass through the boiler to the cylinder, the temperature thereofbeing somewhat reduced by radiation to the boiler. AA very greatadvantage.

is thus gained, since the ten'iperature of the ignited gases is veryhigh when ignited Within a furnace. provided with a highly a refractorywall, and such' temperature inay be as high as two thousand `fivehurdred (9500) or three thousand (3000) degrees, or perhaps higher andat a pressure of only a couple of hundred pounds per square inch, whilethe teniperature'of steam at. tive hundr'ed (500) pounds pressure isonly about'. 4four hundred and seventy (470) degrees.

The temperature of the gas, therefore. is so high that it is Ainjuriousto vthe valves and tylinders and will not adinit of their properlubrication; but. by utilizing this heat-to produce steam and thencombining both the. steam and gas Within the power cylinder,

.valves t'il ainl tit." closed to prevent thereturn 'of thc products ofcombustion to the furnace and boiler] 'lhc sparking devices Titi' may becut outotI opciation in any suitable manner. as by a usual .switch inthe sparking circuit. and thtl compression of thc air in thc furnacesIrelied upon to ctiect the explosion ol' the charge. and by the use ofthe'coinpound coinpiersiiig arrangement in connection with tht`furnaces, it is possible to coinprcss the air inl thc fur--naccssutliciently to cause the charge toex- Dlodc and thus ett'cct4 thcoperation of thc cngiiu` without the vices.

As shown in Fig'. l, the parts ai'e arranged to show thc cycle ol'operation. 'lhc piston v is shown at the bottoni ofthe stroke and hasconipressc'd the air prcvitliusly drawn into the crank.chainber throughthe induction valve l5 into the intermediate compression space orcylinder 25,'the aii passingthrough port #ttt and through .valve 47. 1

4lt' will be'observed that the. lower end of the piston is of largerarea than the upper ciid, and that the space in the crank 'pit'. belowthe piston, wheirin its down position, has been reduced to barelysufficient size to pcrniit the rotation fof the crank which usc of thelsparking deallows a considerable compression iii the` lower cylinder.ln practice this inay be as inuch as iiltecn or twenty pounds per.square inch and will give the advantage. .usual inl vtwo-staj ,rccompressors where a high .coinprcssion is desirable. )ii the followingup` stroke, the air passes through valve 50 which which perinits theescape of the |`noducts of combustion froinfurnace '-tl to drive thepiston on itsiiext dowi'rstroke. .Xtthe ino- 'nient of opening valve(31', the steain valve (30X is also opened by its respective lever andcain.

'l`he' valves 50 are operated alternately so` as to charge the twofur-races alternately. The valves leadingfroin tne furnaces to thecylinder are also operated alternately. the steam valve (SOX 'beingoperated to adinit steaiii into the cylinder on each successive workingstroke of the piston. VVith'tbe two furnaces in operation this permitsthe inje-r prising a cylinder containing an air coni-l pressing chamberand a power chamber, a trunk `piston having heads fitted to therespective chambers, an air-tight base upon which thev cylinder ismounted, a power shaft Within said base, avconnecting rod connecting theshaft and piston, a passage connecting said compressing chamber andbase,

if and means to admit air into the base to be `which the air isdischarged from the coni-4 `means for igniting the charge, and a d lsageconnecting said furnace With the'poweicy compressed therefrbm on thedown-stroke of the piston Iinto the air compressing cham- .be'r throughsaid passage at intervals, the

,said piston adapted to compress the air in and discharge it from thecompressing chamber on .the up-stroke, combined with a furnacecommunicating with the compressing chamber and into which the highlycompressed air is conducted `from the compressing chamber beforeentering the power chamber, a fuelsupply for Said furnace and chamberwhereby the products of combustion are conducted into the power chamber.

2. An internal combustion engine, -comprising a cylinder containing anair compressing chamber and a power chamber, a trunk piston having headsfitted t0 the respective chambers, an air-tight base upon .which thecylinder is mounted cominunicati ing with the air compressingr chamber',a

powershaft within said base, a connecting rod connecting' the shaft andpiston, and means to admit air into the base to be coinpresscd therefrominto the air compressing chamber at intervals, and means to dischargethe air from the con'ipressing chamher, combined with a furnacecommunicating. with the compressing chamber and into pressing chamber, afuel supply for said furnace, and means for igniting the mixture of airand'fuel, a steam boiler adjacent to said Ifuriiact-i and exposed to itsheat, and means to admit the products of combustion and steam to thepower chamber.

3. An internal combustion engine, comprising' .a cylinder containing anair compressing chamber and "a power chamber, a trunk piston lia-vingheads fitted to the respective chambers, an air-tight base upon whichthe cylinderis mounted communicating with the air 'compressing chamber,a power shaft within said base, a connecting rod connecting the shaftand piston, and means to admit air into the base to be coinpressedtherefrom into the air compressing paschanber at intervals, combinedwith a furnace cpmmunicating with said compressing chamber and intowhich the air is discharged from the compressing chamber, a fuel supplyfor the furnace and means for ignitingthe mixture of air and fuel, asteam boiler adjacent to said furnace and exposed, to `its heat,passages to admit the products of combustion and steam to the powercham-- ber, and valves for controlling the admission of air from thebase into the compressing chamber and from the compressing chamber intothe furnace, and `valves for controlling the admission of steam andproducts of combustion' into the power chamber. l

4. An internal combustion engine, comprising a cylinder containing anair vcoinressinoi chamber and a oowerchaniber a D 7 I trunk `pistonhaving heads fitted to the respective chambers, an air-tight base uponwhich the cylinder is mounted, a passage connecting said base with thecompressing chamber, a power shaft within said base, a

connecting rod connecting the shaft V,and piston, and means to admit airinto the base to be compressed therefrom on" the. downstroke of thepiston into the aii coii'ipressing chamber at intervals, the said pistonadapt- --cd to compress the air iii and discharge it from thecompressingchamber on the up` stroke, combined with a furnacecommunicating with -the power chamber and into which the highlycompressed airis discharged from the compressing chamber before enteringthe power chamber, a fuel supply, for said furnace, and means to ignitethe mixture of air and fiiclin said furnace, and a valvevto control theadmission of the products ofl combustion into the power chamber fromsaid furnace.

An internal combustion engine, coniprisiiig a base fonstituting acompression chanihcr, ai cylinder having a compressing'. chain-beradapted to communicate with said base and i )ower chamber a ilura'ht offurnaces adjacent to `said cylinder adapted to communicate with the saidcyhn'derlcom# pressing cihanirber, means for admittingair to the base, a31s,.on in said cvlinder forl'conipressi/ng the air from the base intothe cylinderw compressing chamber on the downstroke and from thecylinder compressing chambcrfy intovthe furnaces alternately on therip-strokes,,means for controlling the :id-' mission of the highlycompressed air from the cylinder compressing chamber to the furnaces,means for admitting fuel to the furnaces, meansfor igriting the--air'and fuel in the furnaces, andmeans for alteriiately admitting theproducts of combustion from the furnaces ,tothe power chainber of thecylinder. i

(i. An internal" combustion engine, coinprising a base constituting acompression chamber, a cylinder having a compressing chamber adapted tocommunicate w1th said base, and a power chamber, a plurality of furnacesadjacent to the cylinder and adapt- 5 ed to communicate with vthe saidcylinder compressing chamber, means for admitting air into the base, apiston in said cylinder for compressing the air from the base into thecylinder compressing chamber, means 'i0 for controlling th'e admissionof air from the cylinder compressing chamber to the furnaces, means foradmitting fuel to the furnaces, and means for alternately igniting themixture of air and fuel in the furneces, a boiler` arranged in eachfurnace,

means for alternately admitting the products of combustion from thefurnaces to the power chamber of the cylinder, and means for admittingsteam from the boilers 2 0 to the power chamber of the cylinder.

7. An internal combustion engine, comprising a cylinder having chambersof different diameters, a trunk piston having heads of differentdian'leters fitted to the respective chambers and forming a powerchamber and a compressing chamber, a power shaft, a'connecting rodconnecting the shaft and piston, a valve-controlled passage leading tothe said compressing chamber to admita fresh supply of air at intervalsto the compressing .chamber on the powerv stroke of the piston, afurnace communicating with'and into which the air isdischarged from saidcompressing-chamber on the return stroke of the piston before enteringthe power chamber, a fuel supply for said furnace, a assage connectingsaid furnace and power c iamber, and a valve for controlling the inletto the power chamber.

4o 8. An internal combustion engine, comprising a cylinder containing anair compressing chamber and apower chamber, a brunt. piston having headsfitted to the respective. chambers, a power shaft, a connecting rodconnecting the shaft and piston, a

valved passage to admit air into the compressing chamber at. intervalsto be dis charged therefrom 'by said pistou, combined with a furnacevc'ommunit-,ating With and boiler adjacent to said furnace and exposedto its heat, passages establishing communication between the furnaceland the power chamber and fromv the steam boiler to the power chamber,'avalve for controlling the,

in on the up stroke of the piston, a furnace eommumcatmg with thecompressing cham- -ber and into which the airis conducted from fuel andhighly compressed and exploded before entering the power chamber, meansfor pogtrolling the passage of the air from the compressing chamber tothe furnace, a valvecontrolled passage connectingthe furnace and thepower ehamber,means for op.n erating the valve controllin4 the passage,and a fuel supply for said urnace.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 6th day ofDecember A. l).

i SIMON LAKE.

Witnesses M. D. BLONDEL,

WM. M. SonoLz.

into which the air is discharged from theV compressing chamber andwherein 1t is igmted 1n the presence of fuel, a steani admission Vof airfrom the compressing the compressing chamber and mixed with stroke ofthe ypiston to be compressed there#

